The classical limit of mean-field quantum spin systems

TL;DR

This paper proves the existence of a classical limit for mean-field quantum spin chains using deformation quantization, showing eigenvector limits, symmetry breaking, and spectrum convergence to classical functions on the sphere.

Contribution

It introduces a rigorous framework for the classical limit of mean-field quantum spin systems via deformation quantization, connecting quantum eigenstates to classical states on the sphere.

Findings

Eigenvectors of mean-field Hamiltonians have well-defined classical limits.

Spectrum converges to the range of a polynomial on the sphere.

Application to spontaneous symmetry breaking phenomena.

Abstract

The theory of strict deformation quantization of the two sphere $S^2\subset\mathbb{R}^3$ is used to prove the existence of the classical limit of mean-field quantum spin chains, whose ensuing Hamiltonians are denoted by $H_N$ and where $N$ indicates the number of sites. Indeed, since the fibers $A_{1/N}=M_{N+1}(\mathbb{C})$ and $A_0=C(S^2)$ form a continuous bundle of $C^*$-algebras over the base space $I=\{0\}\cup 1/\mathbb{N}^*\subset[0,1]$, one can define a strict deformation quantization of $A_0$ where quantization is specified by certain quantization maps $Q_{1/N}: \tilde{A}_0 \rightarrow A_{1/N}$, with $\tilde{A}_0$ a dense Poisson subalgebra of $A_0$. Given now a sequence of such $H_N$, we show that under some assumptions a sequence of eigenvectors $\psi_N$ of $H_N$ has a classical limit in the sense that $\omega_0(f):=\lim_{N\to\infty}\langle\psi_N,Q_{1/N}(f)\psi_N\rangle$ exists as a state on $A_0$ given by $\omega_0(f)=\frac{1}{n}\sum_{i=1}^nf(\Omega_i)$, where $n$ is some natural number. We give an application regarding spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) and moreover we show that the spectrum of such a mean-field quantum spin system converges to the range of some polynomial in three real variables restricted to the sphere $S^2$.